Target and Neiman Marcus team up for holiday designer extravaganza

The logo for the new collaboration between Neiman Marcus and Target. Discounter Target and luxury merchant Neiman Marcus will be working together to sell a holiday collection of items ranging from fashion to sporting goods developed by designers like Oscar de la Renta and Tory Burch. (AP Photo/Target)

Discount giant Target is teaming up with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus and 24 elite designers for a limited-time holiday collection, a union that created a sensation in retailing circles Tuesday, July 10.

Their partnership will bring to Target such top fashion names as Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs and Diane von Furstenberg. The designer collection goes on sale starting Dec. 1, in the lull between Black Friday and the last-minute Christmas rush.

Target's interest in the partnership is easy to see: It adds luster to its reputation for cheap chic and will create a massive buzz during the holidays. Even Wall Street was wowed: Target shares rose 2 percent Tuesday.

But what really raised plucked eyebrows was Neiman Marcus' participation, prompting some skeptics to view the partnership as a gamble.

Not Marshal Cohen, a retail analyst with NPD Group. He regarded it as a shrewd move that "introduces luxury to a whole new level of consumer."

What retailers like Dallas-based Neiman Marcus ask themselves, Cohen said, is "how do I get the younger consumer, or the less-affluent consumer, to follow in my footsteps and discover my brand? This is an opportunity to create an introductory level of this (luxury) product. It's a taste of luxury."

Prices for the collection will be lower than the design houses typically charge, and for this 50-item collection will range from $8 to $500.

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Most of the items will be less than $60, according to Target.

The work of all 24 designers will be featured in both stores, although items will not necessarily be identical. And Minneapolis-based Target has learned some lessons from last year's meltdown associated with the Missoni-for-Target launch.

Target said it will limit the number of items that an individual shopper can buy -- an effort to deter the profiteers who cleaned out racks of clothing, then resold them on eBay.

Plus, it vowed its new-and-improved website will be ready to handle the crush. During the Missoni launch last fall, its then-newly redesigned website crashed most of the day or screwed up orders, infuriating Target customers.

There's little doubt this year's rollout will create another frenzy. The designers include some of fashion's elite, including labels found at Neiman Marcus such as Oscar de la Renta, Marchesa and Carolina Herrera. Designers who previously partnered with Target, including Jason Wu and Rodarte, will also participate with limited-edition collections.

The participating design houses, which also include Tory Burch, Derek Lam and Judith Leiber, all are members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).

More than 50 gift items are expected to be available, ranging from apparel to home decor to pet products and sporting goods.

A preview of the collections is expected to be unveiled Oct. 16, with the pieces hitting stores Dec. 1.

After the collaboration was announced, the reaction on social-media websites was giddy. Some excerpts posted on Twitter:

-- "I have no idea how I'll be able to wait until December for @neiman marcus and @target collaboration. I'll be calling that day off work."

-- "Counting down the days to Dec. 1! @Target and @NeimanMarcus teaming up - 24 designers, lots of amazingness."

Target pioneered the idea of low-price chains teaming with designers to create limited-time, affordable offerings. But the partnership with Neiman Marcus is unprecedented.

Target sells $25 dresses and generates almost half its revenue from staples like food and detergent, while Neiman Marcus has cultivated a reputation for expensive fashion, selling $1,000 shoes and $3,000 handbags.

"We definitely have our differences," Kathee Tesija, Target's executive vice president of merchandising, said of her company and Neiman Marcus. "They're high end, and we're mass appeal. But we both love design."